Irenie's got to produce those babies in the next 24-48 hours. I don't know how she could possibly hang onto them any longer than that. The other day her hindquarters were damp and I thought she must have lost the mucus plug, but I guess it must just have been damp from a post-potty cleanup. She's had a lot of gas and diarrhea and there's an odd odor to it, I'm guessing she has giardia. We're both going to have to suffer with it until the kittens are 8 weeks old, she can't be given metronidazole until the kittens are mostly weaned.
But last night she did lose the mucus plug. I'll spare you the details of how I know that for sure, but I do. And she has clearly "dropped", so I think things are moving into place. The babies sure are an active crew. I hate to disappoint any of the pool participants who guessed a low number of kittens, but I've felt at least 5 different kittens moving and I'm guessing there are more than that. There's one little (?) guy (actually, he feels pretty big) just below her last right rib down toward the bottom of her belly who's been very, very active, I can feel the separate movements of all 4 legs. I think he's been practicing his litterbox digging technique. There's another one - a little quieter - right on top of him, but up under the rib a little. I feel that one kicking when I put my hand on Irenie's back from the top. There's another closer to the rear than the first one. That one feels like it has littler feet, and feels more toward the middle than the right side like the others. Probably going to be the first one born. And there are at least 2 on the left side, too. At one point, I felt all of them move within a few seconds of each other, so I was sure nobody had relocated during that brief period.
Irenie likes me to hold her in my arms and support her belly. She puts her front legs across the crook of my elbow and I close my left arm around her putting my palm along her side. I put my right arm through her back legs (which she then relaxes and lets dangle), hold her belly in my palm, and hold her close to my chest/stomach so my body helps support her. I can feel the babies moving not only with the palms and fingers of both hands, I can feel them on my chest/stomach where Irenie's belly is resting on me. It tickles, and it's hard not to giggle.
With my luck, she'll have them while I'm gone to my obedience class tonight (this is the last class of this term) and I'll miss the whole thing. But I know she likes having me with her, so maybe not. Maybe she'll wait for me to get home.
On my way home from class I've got to remember to stop at Meijers. They sell bulk rawhide in chips, rolls, bones, and rings, every day price $4.99/pound (sale price $2.99/pound) and I'm starting to run low on "pacifiers" for the big dogs. (I still have a whole bunch of the little twist sticks for the little guys.) A big bag of Kitten Chow for Irenie, some multi-packs of canned food, too. I also need to pick up a big bag of the Meijer store brand dry cat food, there's been an increase in the amount of food being consumed at the outdoor dish (despite the increased availability of live food outdoors) and I need to stock up on "feral food". (The ingredients are about equivalent to the Friskies or Whiskas dry foods, and it's only $7 for a 20-pound bag. If it's on sale, it's only $5/bag.) I need birdseed for the feeder, too. Yogurt for Irenie, half and half for me.
Now...... who do I take to class with me tonight? Tonight is split into two sections - Fun and Games, and a CGC practice run after the break. In the Fun and Games part, I talk about dog sport, trick training, and then I set up an "obstacle" course. What looks like a fun obstacle course to them is actually a course of traps and triggers, designed to ferret out how each dog will react to the kinds of things they may encounter on walks out in public. At the beginning of the course are two "traffic" cones, the task is to walk the dog in a figure-8 around them. Next comes a low jump. (A broom handle held up at either end by the low railing at the back of a couple of folding chairs, maybe 4" off the ground.) Another cone, where they are to sit, down, and stay. Next is group of 6 cardboard blueprint tubes separated by 3-4", the task is to walk the dog over/through the tubes. (Awareness of foot placement, simulates something like tree branches across a path.) Next, heel past a flock of "ducks". (Some wicker duck and turkey baskets, I want to get some plastic decoys to use instead, but it's surprising how many dogs bark at those baskets!) Another jump. Another down/stay. An 8' length of plastic floor runner to walk across (unusual texture underfoot). A hula hoop on the floor, get the dog inside the hoop and do a sit-to-down. A low plastic storage tub, walk the dog through the box. (This one is really tough for a lot of dogs, even without water in it.) I need a tunnel, and I need it to fit into my little car for transporting, I'm still trying to figure something out.
People are always amazed at their dogs' reaction to the obstacle course, at what the dogs handle with aplomb and what they react unexpectedly to. (I usually know ahead of time which dogs are going to have problems and which aren't, but they catch me off-guard at times, too.) By the time they've been through the course twice, they'll have a good idea what sorts of things their dogs might react to so they can work on those areas.
After that I talk about agility, flyball, formal obedience, therapy dog work, rally obedience, whatever I think might be satisfying to each dog and handler, and give them some suggestions for local trainers/classes for those things. I demonstrate and explain clicker training. Then a short potty break, and the CGC run-throughs.
I've got one student whose sweet chunky little pug/beagle mix is just about ready to take the test; he and his handler have come so far in the last 6 weeks and she's really pleased. Those are the students that make teaching fun. After I run her and Benny through the test and tell her what needs to be polished before he's ready, I'll give her Chris's number and tell her she should call Chris when Benny's ready, and Chris will test him. (I'm not an AKC CGC evaluator, Chris is.)
I've also got the big Malinois boy Raven, who is close to being ready to take the test too. His handler hasn't started moving away from him on a 'stay' yet, but once he's got a good 'stay' he'll be ready. This is Raven's second term with me. His handler is perfectly capable of teaching him the basic obedience stuff (sit, down, stay, come, leave-it, off, etc.), but he was extremely timid and spooky - and highly reactive - when he first came to class. He desperately needed socialization. I'm so pleased with how he's progressed. He's a totally different dog than he was when I met him the beginning of February. I was a little afraid of him then, but I'm very comfortable with him now. When I met him I had to be very careful not to even appear to be leaning over him, now I can bend over him, wrap my arms around him, and hug him. The first time I touched his leg just below his shoulder, he snapped at the air next to my ear. Now I can pick up both front feet and play with them and he doesn't protest. If he were a rescue dog I wouldn't place him with the general public, I couldn't trust that he wouldn't bite if he felt insecure. But his owner is aware of his issues and committed to, and capable of, managing them, and I feel confident she'll be able to handle him so he's safe.
It'll be nice to be able to stay home on Monday nights for the next few weeks.
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